Dargan Landscape Architects

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Starting on Tricky Places : Gardens that Fit Your Lifestyle like a Glove.

rice-14-blogWhew. Its taken a summer like 2016 when friends and family had calamities, passed away or got really sick to make me appreciate my garden and health even more… and then the specter of scary local fires burning thousands of acres in our treasured Smoky Mountains which made me appreciate our fragile ecosystem.

This blog is a personal note is to myself to review everything in Dargan Landscape Architects book of work to help my friends, their home environments and interface with nature. Like holding hands with fragile yet resilient gloves that fit perfectly.

Hugh and I have been in practice as landscape architects for over four decades. Our client’s now lovely landscapes were tricky places to make behave: with thin soils, complicated topography, owners large wish list, zoning issues, too much or too little shade, too much or too little water, not enough space, too vast a canvas, weird parking, insufficient walkways…the list goes on!  We are blessed with the honor to coax, bend and collaborate with the owners to get the best designs built, and we thank them for sharing their private worlds.

My goal is to inspire homeowners to get the best out of their precious home environment. Design it to yield healthy wellbeing, inspire you to be your best and to provide nurturing spaces. Once we finish this work together, your garden will function like a well-oiled machine, which in itself is a stress-reducing factor.

Photographer, Sarah Valentine of Highlands NC,  shot beautiful dawn shots and late summer portraits of many of our local gardens.

Stay tuned as the book progresses!

Researching Heirloom Gardens in Western NC : The American Kitchen Garden

hodges-apple-closeup-blogThe prospect of saying yes…not a decision taken lightly.

The invitation extended to chair the Jan Wyatt Symposium 2017 for the Cashiers Historical Society, by Ann McKee Austin ( from whom it is impossible to decline a volunteer invitation) and president, Connie Haire, was a surprise.

Do I shoot myself after saying yes?  NO.  I’d promised my family not to take on more projects. But the tantalizing nudge to dust off a topic thoroughly covered in my first draft masters thesis is 1977 is impossible to resist. Rafts of info laying fallow in the storage unit, mildewed and unloved, has been slowly maturing…waiting for airtime.

One does not lightly throw something together that could impact a visitors perspective of history.

On the suggestion of Macon County Librarian,Karen Hawks, a spin and TRX buddy, I hired the wonderful librarian, Emily Crowell, to type, type, type.  YIKES! The old manuscript was a dot matrix printed, accordian-paged, non-digital manuscript. Emily DOVE IN with glee on her day off from work and is quickly modernizing the document.

WE HAVE A TITLE: The 2017 Jan Wyatt Symposium The Heirloom Gardener hosted by The Cashiers Historical Society.

WE HAVE A LOCATION: The Zachary Tolbert House Grounds c 1850.

WE SET A DATE: June 21 2017.

SPEAKERS SAID YES:

Eric Jackson of Old Salem to talk about historic plant materials

Ila Hatter, wildcrafter supreme, to demonstrate cooking methods of our forefathers

And me, to demonstrate what a garden might have looked like in 1850 when Alexander Zachary built the house in Cashiers, NC.

WE HAVE A STORYLINE and I meet with the tent man next week.

DIGITAL COPIES OF ALEXANDER ZACHARY’s journal appeared (primarily apple notes, but useful nonetheless!)

Whew…stay tuned for schedule and logo next!

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Therapeutic Landscape Designs for Mental Well-Being

Are you bogged down with stress and looking for an outdoor escape? Gardening has long been considered an activity that can be cathartic and calming for those who enjoy working with plants and soil. The idea of nurturing plants to produce a bounty of vegetables and fruits, or creating a beautiful display of flowers and greenery, can provide a space for healing, meditation, restoration, and contemplation. 

Recently, scientists, doctors, and landscape architects have started collaborating to create therapeutic landscape designs for mental well-being.  Unlike traditional gardens, landscape planning for therapeutic gardens involves specific goals.

While a healing garden is designed to encourage overall health and encourage meditation, restoration, and contemplation, therapeutic gardens are designed to go beyond these goals to promote health and well-being. Landscape architects often work closely with the medical community to create gardens that will measurably contribute to a patient’s healing.

While this form of landscape planning is often used in long-term care facilities or rehabilitation centers, you can also opt to work with a landscape architect to develop your own therapeutic garden. Since the goals and measurable outcomes vary with the client, it’s essential to know what you want your therapeutic garden to accomplish.

For example, a garden created for a hospice may focus on quality of life and restoration for families, while a rehabilitation center’s therapeutic garden may serve as an actual component of therapy that provides respite from the hard work of physical therapy.

With 40 years in the business of landscape architecture, Dargan Landscape Architects would be happy to consult with you on a therapeutic garden design. Browse our portfolio of completed projects and contact us to learn how we can help.

Light Up Your Landscape with Votive Candles

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Do you want to light up your garden for late night strolls? Have you been looking to bring whimsical details into your garden design? From safety to creating a new focal point, votive candles can make a visual statement in a variety of garden and landscape designs.

Landscape lighting can be used to create safely-lit pathways, highlight certain features of your yard, or create an intimate setting for evening conversations. And when you are looking for soft light that encourages intimacy and a relaxed atmosphere, votive candles is an excellent choice.

The vessels you choose to contain your votive candles help define the style you wish to convey. Our Dargan Boundless Garden product line has many beautiful votive candles and accessories to make landscape lighting easy.

  1. Our Iron Rope Sconce with glass mounts to any flat surface and features a wrought iron scroll that encases protective glass for your votive candles. Mounted on deck posts or walls surrounding your conversation areas, you can create a soft, warm glow for relaxation or entertaining.
  2. Garden Votive candles are offered in several different color choices of textured glass. Whether used singly or in groups, these votive holders can cast beautiful light from any surface in your garden.
  3. Spring Mix is a selection of six garden votive selections in spring colors that come with their own wrought iron basket to create a beautiful spring centerpiece for any table.
  4. Add some romance to your landscape with our Hanging Wildewood Votive with glass. Wrought iron construction with detailed leaves can create a softly-lit romantic pathway or highlight an intimate conversation area.
  5. For a touch of whimsy in your garden, the Shard Rabbit Planter is the perfect size to accommodate a votive candle and makes a great conversation piece while casting soft light. These can be strategically placed to highlight features or used in a centerpiece to invite conversation.

Dargan Landscape Architects has many products and services that will make your landscape beautiful and unique to your tastes. Please visit our site for more landscape lighting ideas, or contact us to learn how we can design the perfect landscape for you.

How do I Bring Eye-Catching Textures into My Garden?

As sensory beings, incorporating texture into your garden design ideas will generate appeal that draws all passers. Not only will your garden provide a beautiful visual effect with color and depth, it will exude wonderful scents to fulfill the sense of smell and stimulate the sensations of touch and sight when you add texture.

Many people shy away from experimenting with texture worrying that their garden may take on an air of messiness or become overly cluttered. But when done properly, eye-catching garden texture can bring beauty and serenity into a number of settings.

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To create a sense of luxury, try layering colors and textures in your garden beds by combining short and tall plants with similar colors. Shorter plants and flowers should be situated toward the front of the garden, while taller varieties can go in the background. This simple garden design idea really draws to your landscape.

For a look that can be striking, while still giving a sense of serenity at the same time, combine textural elements in a single color such as paving bricks or garden path tiles. These textural elements can be surrounded by smooth pebbles in muted shades or bordered with lush green feather grass. Not only will you be adding several textures, you are adding a striking contrast with the foliage that borders your design.

If you have limited space for your garden design, there are many different options when container gardening. These eye-catching vessels can lift up a garden while incorporating texture. To keep the setting cohesive, you may wish to center your design on a single color scheme.

Finding the right garden design can be a difficult challenge. Dargan Landscape Architects are experts at taking the concept you visualize in your head and bringing them to life. Please visit our website to learn how we can help you bring your design to life.